


An instructional lesson on how to deal

by ChipAndDealer



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Fun times at Camp Halfblood, Gambling, Gen, I have a tough time telling those two apart, Is this secretly angst like 90 percent of my other stories?, Maaaaaaybe, Or maybe it's cabin fever, Percy might be bad at poker, Poker, They are wee babs so don't expect HOO stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:00:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26548642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChipAndDealer/pseuds/ChipAndDealer
Summary: The silence that pervaded the room afterwards was broken by the light riffling sound that could only be a stack of playing cards. It took a few moments, looking around at the assembled campers, but Annabeth spotted Nico in the corner, setting up a private game of solitaire."Say," Annabeth began, the gears in her brain clicking away like a mischievous pocketwatch. "Nico, how do you feel about a little game of poker?"
Comments: 2
Kudos: 45





	An instructional lesson on how to deal

Percy liked to think of himself as a logical guy. For all the seaweed he, admittedly, had in his brain, He had done remarkably well navigating war, monsters, quests, and perhaps hardest of all, the host of mentally unbalanced demigod campers he was resigned to calling his peers. Annabeth was queen of logic, obviously, but if the fact he couldn't make it through every problem with his sword wasn't apparent by that point, he'd already be dead. He was a bit brash, hotheaded, sure, but logical, too.

Usually, he liked to think his friends were the same.

But it had been raining for nearly the entire week, and when campers started sinking up to their waist in the mud, Chiron finally had to close down the training ground.

As time crawled forward with a bunch of ADD kids in cramped quarters lacking any way to relieve stress, it was easy to see how even the most level-headed of teens would find their tempers fraying.

Clarisse wasn't the most level-headed of teens. She wasn't even close to the most level-headed teen. If there was a race from the Empire State Building to the Eiffel Tower to decide who was more level-headed between Clarisse and a rabid wolverine, Clarisse would be disqualified for dragging the wolverine to Trinidad and throwing it into a tar lake.

"What did you say to me, rat-face?"

Clarisse wasn't surprising.

"I said," Annabeth snapped her book shut with a deliberate motion, "that your chewing was so loud, I couldn't hear the storm."

The statement was punctuated by a peal of thunder that reverberated around the temporarily enclosed mess hall.

Clarisse was on her feet and in her face before the liquid in the drinks could still. "You wanna run that by me again?"

"Ah," Annabeth stood, drawing herself to her full height, which, while impressive, was still a head shorter than Clarisse, "that explains why it never bothered you, before." She tapped an ear, silently mouthing, "you must be hard of hearing."

Clarisse reared a fist back, just as Chiron barked out their names, startling both into stillness. "I remind you both that the training grounds are still closed. Any sparring can wait until after they reopen. Do I make myself clear?"

Clarisse roughly released the part of Annabeth's shirt she'd grabbed before the punch, dropping her arm to the side. "Yeah."

"Crystal," Annabeth murmured, picking up her book again.

The silence that pervaded the room afterwards was broken by the light riffling sound that could only be a stack of playing cards. It took a few moments, looking around at the assembled campers, but Annabeth spotted Nico in the corner, setting up a private game of solitaire.

"Say," Annabeth began, the gears in her brain clicking away like a mischievous pocketwatch. "Nico, how do you feel about a little game of poker?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Poker?"

Annabeth nodded, a smile slicking its way across her face at the plan. "Just a little game of me, and you, and Percy of course, and why not... Clarisse?"

Clarisse stopped in place, her path already moving back to her seat abruptly halted.

Nico carefully set down the cards he was holding. "Don't you need money, to play poker?"

Annabeth waved a hand. "For a friendly game like this, why don't we just wager chores?"

Nico thought for a few moments before shrugging. "Okay. I'm in."

She turned to Percy. He'd played poker a few times before, and liked it alright. Besides, being forced to do a few extra chores wasn't nearly as bad as Annabeth's ire if he didn't just go with it.

Annabeth probably was the most level-headed of teens, but saying her temper was fraying after being locked inside for so long was like saying Grover kinda liked Pan.

"Sure," Percy agreed.

Annabeth turned finally to Clarisse, still frozen in the middle of the room. "How about you, Clarisse? You have played poker before, haven't you?"

Clarisse glared at the smug blonde. "I'm going to enjoy offloading my chores to you, rat-face."

So the poker game was set up, Percy, Nico, Annabeth, and Clarisse, playing. As the first piece of good entertainment in days, a good portion of the rest of camp had decided to gather to watch as well, then after a false start where some members of the Hermes cabin decided it would be fun to start reading off the cards everyone had in their hands, Chiron decided to herd the spectators to one side of the room, giving a stern 'reminder' not to interfere. As children of the god of gambling, Percy suspected they were just sore at not being invited.

But that was neither here nor there.

Annabeth began dealing the cards. "Five card draw, no limit, one-eyed Jacks and man with the axe are wild. I'm not going too fast for you, am I, Clarisse?" It was possible Annabeth was still sore over Clarisse soaking her towel in mud while she was in the shower.

"You think I'm impressed because you read a book on poker, once?" Clarisse huffed, pushing the cards back. "Someone else deal, I don't trust her not to cheat."

Annabeth scoffed in disbelief, but Nico held out a hand. "Does anyone have a problem if I deal?"

Nobody objected, so Nico took the cards and began carefully shuffling them.

Percy looked down at his hand and the pair of twos resting there. He wasn't surprised at his bad luck, by that point, but usually it wasn't quite that obvious.

"First round of betting starts now," Nico said quietly after everyone put their ante in.

The method Annabeth came up with for chips were exemptions from certain chores. Each chore had a maximum of three exemptions, so if you ended the night without one, you and whoever else lost would do it. Simple chores were worth less, and the chores nobody wanted to deal with were worth more. There was a brief haggling session where Clarisse tried to inflate her chores up in price, but for the most part they were all in agreement on the stakes.

Annabeth passed a green scrap of paper forward. "Dishwashing."

Clarisse laughed. "Where'd all that big talk from before go?" She threw a red scrap into the middle. "Sword sharpening."

Percy sighed, tossing a yellow, food preparation, scrap and two greens for sweeping into the pot.

Nico flipped his cards face down. "Fold."

There was a small bit of grumbling from the peanut gallery at that, but it was actually the Hermes kids that quieted them down.

Annabeth scowled, but sent a yellow laundry card and green herb gathering scrap forward. "Call."

Clarisse looked down at her cards, playing with another yellow scrap, before setting it down again. "No raise from me this time."

Percy nodded. "I'm good, too."

"Draw begins now," Nico said, taking the top card of the deck and sliding it face down into the discard pile. Percy raised an eyebrow at this, but nobody else commented on it, so it was probably just a poker thing he didn't know about.

Annabeth passed two cards to Nico. "Annabeth takes two," Nico narrated, quietly.

Clarisse smirked, sending a single card his way. "Clarisse takes one," he continued.

Percy sent everything but his twos to Nico. "Percy takes three," Nico said finally, dealing the cards. "The second round of betting begins now."

Percy looked at his new hand. Still a pair of twos, none of the cards he got helped. Annabeth, across from him, however, seemed bolstered by her replacement cards, shoving a yellow scrap into the middle. "Berry picking."

Percy didn't actually mind berry picking that much, as a chore, but even Nico admitted to not liking the way the berries dyed his hands, so yellow it was.

It was Clarisse's turn to frown. After a moment, her yellow food preparation scrap got thrown in with a grunt that may have been 'call,' at some point in the process, but was impossible to tell.

Percy sincerely doubted a pair of twos could carry him the whole way, so he folded, too.

"Draw, second round," Nico said, once again sticking the top card of the deck into the discard.

"Annabeth takes one." She was still glaring at Clarisse.

"Clarisse takes one." She was glaring right back.

"Final round of betting," Nico said.

Annabeth gripped a green scrap, waffling whether or not to put it in before shaking her head. "No bets."

"Wuss," Clarisse sniped, but she didn't bet either.

Nico placed the deck down on the table. "Please show your cards."

Annabeth flipped hers over. "Two pair, Kings and fours."

Clarisse looked like she'd swallowed a worm. "Two pair, Queens and tens."

"Bad luck, Clarisse," Annabeth tutted, scooping the papers closer to her. "Maybe next time."

Everyone assembled decided it was better to pretend they couldn't hear the dark mumblings coming out of Clarisse's mouth.

Nico dealt the next hand. Percy sighed at the lonely King surrounded by random number cards. Maybe he could grab someone else to play for him. That way he might end up with a few chore exemptions leftover.

"Polishing armor." Annabeth threw the red scrap forward.

"Bathroom cleaning." Clarisse matched it, furiously.

"Stables." Percy looked longingly at the red scrap as it entered the pot.

"Fold." Nico threw his cards away, again. "First round draw." The top card of the deck went into the discard.

"Two, please," she passed the cards over.

"Annabeth takes two."

"Gimme three." Clarisse tried to ignore Annabeth's smug expression

"Clarisse takes three."

Percy looked at his hand again. "Is it possible to fold during the draw?" Nico shook his head. "Then four, thanks."

"Percy takes four."

Hey, there was the other King. Now he had... a pair. "Maybe I'm bad at poker?" Percy mumbled.

"Second round of betting begins now," Nico announced.

"Food preparation." Annabeth placed what was formerly Clarisse's exemption into the pot.

"Raise." Clarisse threw her second to last red scrap in. "Inventory."

Annabeth squeezed her cards tighter.

"I'm just gonna fold," Percy said, flipping his cards over. He looked around, seeing if he could meet the eyes of anyone willing to take his place. Nope. No one.

Annabeth skidded a pair of greens into the pot, not saying a word.

Nico looked to Clarisse. "Pot's big enough," she decided, not betting any more.

Nico dropped the top of the deck into the discard. "Second round draw."

"Annabeth takes two." Percy suspected the cards Annabeth was holding would be crushed into unrecognizability by the end of the round.

"No cards for me," Clarisse said, baring her teeth at the girl.

"Final round of betting."

Annabeth considered for a moment. "No bets."

"I don't need 'em," Clarisse agreed.

"Show your cards." Both girls flipped them over at once. On Annabeth's side, three sevens. On Clarisse's-

"Straight." Her grin seemed to grow at the same rate Annabeth's look of utter abject horror did. She scooped up the multicolored scraps. "Maybe next time, right?"

Chiron shifted where he was standing, reminding both of them they wouldn't be allowed to come to blows. Lucky Clarisse.

Nico dealt the cards again.

Percy looked at his cards with a bit of resigned acceptance, acknowledging the pair of sixes that looked back at him without surprise. He was beginning to suspect Nico's method of just paying the ante was the right one as he passed a yellow scrap forward to call.

Clarisse was of a different opinion. "Gonna fold again, di Angelo?" Nico paused, his hand halting its movement in the process of doing, apparently, just that. "Or feel like growing a pair of-"

"Clarisse," Chiron said, warningly.

Nico considered for a moment. "Okay," he drew his cards closer to his chest. "I'll play." A red scrap joined the pot.

Annabeth pursed her lips, but put in two green to call. Clarisse put in a yellow, mostly to be contrary. Percy put in three green, Nico one, and Annabeth one, before the betting for the round stopped.

"First round draw," Nico said, ever the dutiful dealer as he discarded the top card once again.

"Annabeth takes two." She didn't seem overly happy with the cards she got.

"Clarisse takes three." Percy wondered how she could look so confident, even getting rid of everything but two cards.

"Percy takes three." It was impossible not to draw a face card, there, Percy was sure of it. Even with Nico shuffling the discard back into the deck every couple rounds, he had been dealt so many random junk number cards, it had to be impossible. An eight, a ten, and a two. Goody.

"Dealer takes one." Percy had honestly forgotten Nico was still playing, this round. "The second round of betting begins now."

It was a strange thing, so used to the energy Clarisse and Annabeth had been making bets, to see Nico lazily pass another red scrap into the pot.

"You realize, the red ones are for when you have a good hand, right, di Angelo?" Clarisse jeered.

Nico shrugged. "You wanted me to play; I'm playing."

In the end, everyone called the bet.

Everyone called the bet when he raised by a yellow in the last round, too.

"Please, reveal your cards," Nico said.

"Two pair." Percy finally had a hand worth showing, even if it was admittedly unimpressive, he wanted to stay to the end of one of these rounds.

Clarisse showed her three Jacks and in nearly the inverse of before, Annabeth showed her, "straight."

"Flush." She was reaching for the pot when Nico said it, her hand freezing in midair. Nico pulled the pot to his side, no gloats or jeers whatsoever.

He dealt the cards again.

"Full house." Nico took the pot.

"Trip Queens." Nico took the pot.

"Royal straight." Nico took the pot.

Clarisse practically lunged over the table, gripping his shirt. "You making fun of me, di Angelo?"

"I didn't say anything," he answered, looking more tired than annoyed or angry.

"That is enough, Clarisse." Chiron stomped. "Last round of the game."

She released the shirt, dropping him roughly into his chair before he dealt the cards one last time.

Percy looked at his cards. Three Jacks. Wait, did he finally have a good hand?

Annabeth pushed a good portion of her remaining scraps into the middle. Okay, so she probably had a good hand, too.

"Final round, right?" Clarisse grabbed every scrap she had left and threw it forward. "All in."

Well, it was the final round. Percy tossed all his scraps into the center as well. He might as well play to win.

Nico matched the bet as Annabeth pushed the last of her scraps to do the same.

"First round draw. No more bets," Nico announced.

"Annabeth takes one." She beamed at the card she was given.

"Clarisse takes two." Her expression was a bit shakier, but still confident enough.

Percy looked at the other cards in his hand, a ten and a four. He could just throw out one, but what if the other was the pair he got and he missed out on a full house? No, better to ditch both and hope for something good.

"Percy takes two." He looked at the cards. Two eights. Finally, on the last round he was getting something.

"Dealer takes three." Nico dealt three cards for himself. "Second round draw."

Annabeth shook her head. "I'm just fine," she said, visibly trying to maintain a poker face so her excitement couldn't leak through.

"Clarisse takes one." She was starting to look a bit nervous.

Percy waved him off. "Nothing for me, thanks."

He dealt a single card for himself. "Dealer takes one." He looked at his cards, then set them down again. "Everyone, please show your cards."

Clarisse slapped her almost-flush on the table, cursing. As it was, with the lonely club among diamonds, it amounted to a Queen high hand.

"Full house for me," Percy said, pleased, even if he was pretty sure Annabeth was going to crush him.

She laid her hand on the table, confirming his suspicion. "Straight flush." She was missing a Jack, but the King of diamonds, or 'man with the axe,' filled its place.

Nico sighed as all eyes turned to him. He began flipping his cards one at a time. "Ace, Ace, Ace, Ace, and-" the last card, Annabeth's missing Jack of hearts. One-eyed Jack. "Ace," he finished. "Game over."

He gathered his scraps into a careless handful and shoved them in his pocket, standing up to leave.

"How?" Annabeth finally spluttered, wrenching free from the stupor the end of the game had struck everyone into.

He moved to the door, stopping with his hand on the handle, turned away. "I spent seventy years in a casino and you thought I was... what? Twiddling my thumbs?"

Annabeth flinched. Who was he kidding? Percy flinched, too.

"It's been a week," he continued. "All the artificial lights hurt, you can't go outside, it's so hard to find a moment to yourself, it's boring and it sucks, I get that." He shook his head. "But stop trying to kill each other." He opened the door. "It's only been a week."

The door clicked shut behind him.

Percy was frozen in his seat for what felt like hours, but couldn't have been more than a minute before he picked up Nico's cards and went after him.

The rain was still coming, but Percy's abilities kept him dry. Nico wasn't so lucky, though he guessed that was true in a number of ways.

"You forgot this," Percy held up the deck of cards.

He was sitting down on one of the logs they used for the end of day campfires, though the thought of anyone being able to make a fire in that weather was laughable. He held out a hand, accepting the cards. "Thanks." Percy stood there, not sure what to say for a minute, just watching him get drenched by the rain. Finally, he held up a hand, curving the water so it stopped falling on him.

"It's fine." Nico waved him off. "I like the rain."

Percy quirked an eyebrow. "Really?"

"No, the rain sucks." He laughed. "But it's still better, I think, than before." He held up a hand, watching the water pool and splatter into it. "It's different, you know?"

"I'm sorry," Percy said after a minute.

Nico shrugged. "I got dealt a bad hand." He let his arm fall, the water cupped with it splashing onto the muddy ground. "You got dealt plenty of bad hands tonight."

"I've never been very lucky," Percy admitted. Probably, the understatement of the century.

Nico opened the box of cards, pulling out Percy's last hand: three Jacks, two eights, turning them over in his fingers a few times before handing them back to Percy.

He looked down at it, four Aces and the one-eyed Jack, but when did they change to-?

"Make your own luck, Percy." Nico stood, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets and moving away. "I'm going to bed."

It took a while, of Percy just staring down at the cards, but finally, he did the same.

The storm let up the next day.

**Author's Note:**

> What Nico's doing by discarding the top card at the start of the draw is called 'burning' the card. It's a method mainly used in casinos to deter card marking and double dealing. What Percy's doing is generally called 'losing' and is an activity for losers.
> 
> Thanks for reading.  
> -Dealer


End file.
